Associate Director, Graduate Academic Services

University of Toronto•Toronto, ON

2d•CA$106,705 - CA$124,491•Onsite

About The Position

As the Interim Associate Director, Graduate Academic Services, at the University of Toronto's School of Graduate Studies (SGS), you will be a strategic leader who positively impacts the experience of over 21,000 graduate students, graduate staff and graduate faculty across the University’s three campuses. This position is critical for achieving Academic Services’ vision for delivery of centralized supports to graduate units and students in the areas of policy interpretation and implementation, systems and business process management, staff onboarding and training, and integrity of the academic record. Reporting to the Director, Student Academic Services, you will be a key member of SGS' leadership team, responsible for providing leadership for student academic services in three portfolios: admissions and international student advising; registration and student records management; program completion. In this leadership role you will provide management and leadership for the efficient delivery of administrative services and ensure a student and client service-oriented culture and positive experience for students and stakeholders. You will collaborate with the Director, with the SGS leadership team and other university departments such as the Graduate Units, the University Registrar’s Office, the Office of the Vice Provost Academic Programs, Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration (EASI), and more to develop and implement policies and procedures that align with the graduate student service vision and priorities and foster an integrated approach to student support. You will provide expert advice to tri-campus divisions and senior academic administrators on policy and procedural matters. The ideal candidate brings extensive experience with student information systems to contribute to the use of the systems that support admissions and registrarial functions across the graduate community. You will recommend and implement enhancements to procedures and systems to improve service delivery. You will create training content and provide quality assurance mechanisms for delivery of up-to-date training and onboarding of graduate administrative staff. You will promote the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of graduate student data, provide analysis and interpretation of student data for academic leadership and contribute expert advice in cases relating to privacy protection and data governance. This position carries full managerial responsibility for staff of three teams, including organizational design of the teams, assignment of work, hiring, onboarding, training, performance management and professional development. You will work with the Director to provide people leadership and foster a collaborative working environment. You will lead by example to build capacity, support staff and students, and provide leadership in Indigenous, equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism efforts that lead to a greater sense of belonging for all community members.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree, or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience.
At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in registrarial and student academic services, including leadership of a multi-service unit.
Ability to interpret and apply a broad range of institutional policies and procedures.
Experience providing leadership and vision.
Skilled in leading, coaching, and motivating high-performing teams.
Significant experience in working with complex student information systems.
Expert knowledge of ROSI (or similar), CRM systems such as GradApp (Slate), MS suite of tools, JIRA and other higher education applications that support record and data management, communications, and all relevant business processes.
Demonstrated ability to lead through change.
Ability to manage staff in a unionized environment.
Experience in project management.
Experience in customer relationship management within a complex environment.
Superior analytical, oral and written communication, decision-making, organizational and interpersonal skills.
Proven ability to exercise sound judgment, initiative, and maintain confidentiality.
Excellent problem-solving skills.
Ability to work under pressure and with deadline constraints while balancing competing priorities.
Demonstrated presentation skills and ability to conduct workshops.
Demonstrated high level of initiative for a changing work environment.

Nice To Haves

A graduate degree.
Experience in graduate education administration.
Strong knowledge of the University of Toronto policies, governance structure, and organization.

Responsibilities

Provide management and leadership for the efficient delivery of administrative services.
Ensure a student and client service-oriented culture and positive experience for students and stakeholders.
Collaborate with the Director, SGS leadership team, and other university departments to develop and implement policies and procedures.
Provide expert advice to tri-campus divisions and senior academic administrators on policy and procedural matters.
Recommend and implement enhancements to procedures and systems to improve service delivery.
Create training content and provide quality assurance for training and onboarding of graduate administrative staff.
Promote the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of graduate student data.
Provide analysis and interpretation of student data for academic leadership.
Contribute expert advice in cases relating to privacy protection and data governance.
Carry full managerial responsibility for staff of three teams, including organizational design, assignment of work, hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, and professional development.
Provide people leadership and foster a collaborative working environment.
Lead by example to build capacity, support staff and students, and provide leadership in Indigenous, equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism efforts.